UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

A READING OF VONNEGUT’S MAJOR NOVELS AS WORKS OF METAFICTION

ABDOLRAZAGH BABAEI

FBMK 2013 53

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A READING OF VONNEGUT’S MAJOR NOVELS AS WORKS OF

METAFICTION

By

ABDOLRAZAGH BABAEI

Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra

Malaysia, in Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of

Philosophy

June 2013

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis to all teachers who may teach with love.

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Abstract of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in

fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

A READING OF VONNEGUT’S MAJOR NOVELS AS WORKS OF

METAFICTION

By

ABDOLRAZAGH BABAEI

June 2013

Chairman : Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya, PhD

Faculty : Modern Languages and Communication

A reading of Vonnegut‘s major novels as metafiction grows out of the diverse

critical reactions to the paradoxical nature of Kurt Vonnegut's works as part of

contemporary American literature. For Vonnegut, the fact that the autonomy of

literature is a basic tenet of postmodernism does not make the challenge of

pragmatic experimental literature any less real. Rather, Vonnegut suggests a kind

of fiction that aims to alter the world and its inhabitants‘ deeds while providing the

basic prerequisites of postmodern fiction. Such innovative juxtaposition takes

place through fictional writing, called metafiction, that self-consciously and

systematically draws attention to its status as an artefact in order to pose questions

about the relationship between fiction and reality. Metafiction helps Vonnegut to

propose fiction that connects literature and the real world, thus providing his

idealistic aspiration for artists as agents of change. Exposing the construction of a

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fictional cosmos and the laying bare of that cosmos, metafictional strategies of

authorship, frame-breaking, play, intertextuality and parody as the literary means

of self-reflexive fiction display the uncertain, insecure, self-questioning and

culturally pluralistic aspects of world narratives. Religion, history and American

culture are the ―grand narratives‖ to which Vonnegut offers his readers a better

understanding of their fundamental structures by providing analogous counterparts

in self-conscious narratives. By examining three selected novels, Cat’s Cradle,

Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions, as examples of metafiction, the

study shows how Vonnegut unmasks the grand narratives of American culture

while offering ingenious and entertaining stories that call for readers with

―imagination and ordering faculties alert and at work‖. Vonnegut, in his

metafictional trilogy while developing a blueprint for his art, adamantly exploits

metafiction to give an accurate model for understanding the contemporary

experience of the world as a series of constructed provisional systems rather than

eternal verities.

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Abstrak tesis yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Putra Malaysia sebagai

memenuhi keperluan untuk Ijazah Doktor Falsafah

PEMBACAAN NOVEL-NOVEL UTAMA VONNEGUT SEBAGAI KARYA

METAFIKSYEN

Oleh

ABDOLRAZAGH BABAEI

Jun 2013

Pengerusi : Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya, PhD

Fakulti : Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi

Kaedah pembacaan novel-novel utama Vonnegut sebagai metafiksyen terbentuk

dari beberapa reaksi yang kritikal terhadap sifat paradoksikal hasil-hasil karya

Kurt Vonnegut sebagai sebahagian daripada sastera Amerika moden. Bagi

Vonnegut, hakikat bahawa autonomi sastera dijadikan rukun asas dalam aliran

pasca modermisme tidak mengakibatkan cabaran sastera eksperimental pragmatik

menjadi kurang sahih. Sebaliknya, Vonnegut mencadangkan sejenis fiksyen yang

bertujuan untuk mengubah keadaan duniawi dan amalan-amalan para penghuninya

di samping membekalkan pra-syarat asas kepada fiksyen pasca moden. Penindihan

inovatif seumpama ini berlaku melalui penulisan fiksyen yang dikenali sebagai

metafiksyen yang mampu menarik perhatian kepada statusnya sebagai artifak

dengan menyoal perkaitan di antara rekaan dan realiti melalui kaedah penyedaran

kendiri yang sistematik. Metafiksyen membantu Vonnegut untuk mempelopori

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rekaan yang mampu menghubungkan bidang sastera dengan dunia sebenar, sekali

gus menjadikan aspirasi idealistiknya sebagai suatu agen perubahan kepada para

artis. Melalui pendedahan struktur pembinaan kosmos sesebuah cerita fiksyen,

strategi-strategi metafiksyen yang merangkumi aspek pengarangan, pemecahan

kerangka, drama, inter-textuality dan parodi sebagai kaedah sastera dalam fiksyen

berbentuk refleksi kendiri mempamerkan aspek-aspek ketidakpastian, kekurangan

keyakinan, penyoalan kendiri dan kepelbagaian budaya di dalam dunia cereka.

Vonnegut mendorong para pembacanya untuk mendalami struktur-struktur dasar

―cereka agung‖ melalui aspek agama, sejarah dan budaya Amerika dengan

membekalkan penyalinan yang sejajar dalam cereka berunsurkan kesedaran diri.

Dengan mengkaji tiga novel terpilih iaitu Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five dan

Breakfast for Champions sebagai contoh-contoh metafiksyen, kajian ini

menunjukkan bagaimana Vonnegut meleraikan cereka-cereka agung budaya

Amerika di samping membekalkan cerita-cerita yang kreatif dan menghiburkan

kepada para pembaca yang mempunyai ―imaginasi dan fakulti penstrukturan yang

sedar dan berfungsi‖. Dalam pengembangan pelan induk hasil karyanya, Vonnegut

melalui trilogi berbentuk metafiksyennya berkeras untuk mengeksploitasi

metafiksyen untuk memberikan model yang tepat bagi memahami pengalaman

kontemporari duniawi sebagai suatu siri sistem percubaan yang terbina berbanding

dengan kebenaran yang kekal.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank God who is the first to be thanked.

Then, I wish to express my indebtedness to the beautiful Malaysia that hosted me

for years to learn and live with ease of mind. In this peaceful peninsula I met

people who helped me with moderation and love, to experience a new way of

living and education. UPM, certainly, will reside that part of my mind which

retains beauties and good memories.

Among people of UPM, I offer my gratitude and respect to my thesis committee

first; My supervisor, the gentle lady of FBMK, Associate Professor Wan

Roseleszam Wan Yahya who was the first to give hope in my hard times, Dr.

Arbaaya Ali Termizi, a respectful teacher, and Dr. Zalina Mohd Qasim, a humble

master of English. I have to mention Associate Professor Dr. Noritah Omar who

deserves appreciation for what she did for me and other PhD candidates. I pray

God for her health.

Finally, I wish to express my love and gratefulness to my family, who make all

things possible: to my mother and father first and my lovely children whom we

used tomiss each otherfor long.

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I certify that a Thesis Examination Committee has met on June 24 to conduct the

final examination of Abdolrazagh Babaei on his thesis entitled ―A Reading of

Vonnegut’s Major Novels as Works of Metafiction” in accordance with the

Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 and the Constitution of the

Universiti Putra Malaysia [P.U.(A) 106] 15 March 1998. The Committee

recommends that the student be awarded the Doctor of Philosophy.

Members of the Thesis Examination Committee were as follows:

Shamala Paramasivam, PhD

Associate Professor

FBMK

Universiti Putra Malaysia

(Chairman)

Rosli Bin Talif, PhD

Associate Professor

FBMK

Universiti Putra Malaysia

(Internal Examiner)

Ghulam Sarwar Yousuf, PhD

Professor

UIIM

(Internal Examiner)

Ojaide Tanure, PhD

Professor

UNC Charlotte

USA

(External Examiner)

NORITAH OMAR, PhD

Assoc. Professor and Deputy Dean

School of Graduate Studies

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Date:

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This thesis submitted to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia has been accepted

as fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The

members of the Supervisory committee are as follows:

Wan Roselezam Bt. Wan Yahya, Ph.D

Associate Professor

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication

Universiti Putra Malaysia

(Chairman)

Arbaayah Ali Termizi, Ph.D

Senior Lecturer

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication

Universiti Putra Malaysia (Member) ZalinaBt. Mohd Kasim, PhD

Senior Lecturer

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication

Universiti Putra Malaysia

(Member)

BUJANG BIN KIM HUAT, PhD

Professor and Dean

School of Graduate Studies

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Date:

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis is based on my original work except for quotations

and citations, which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not

been previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree at Universiti Putra Malaysia or other institutions.

ABDOLRAZAGH BABAEI

Date: 24 June 2013

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

DEDICATION ii

ABSTRACT iii

ABSTRAK v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vii

APPROVAL viii

DECLARATION x

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1

Background of the Study 1 Problem Statement 10 Research Objectives 14 Conceptual Framework 16 Significance of the Study 20 Scope of the Study 24 Definition of Terms 26

II. LITERATURE REVIEW 34

Introduction 34 Metafiction and Postmodern Literature 36 In Defence of Metafiction 39 Vonnegut and his Critics 46 Vonnegut and Metafiction 51 Metarealities 59

III. METHODOLOGY 66

Introduction 66

Frame and Frame-breaking 69

The Play 71

Authorship 72 Parody 75 Intertextuality 80 The Function of Intertextuality 82 Historiographic Metafiction 85

IV. CONSTRUCTED WORLDS INCAT’S CRADLE 90

A Preamble to Vonnegut‘s Metafictions 90 Cat‘s Cradle: A New Quest 94

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Metafictionality in Cat‘s Cradle 97

Frame and Frame-breaking 98 Story within a Story 112 Play theory 122

Multi-Dimensional Dis/play 126 Metareligion 135 Conclusion 139

V. FABRICATED HISTORIES IN SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE 143

The Story of a (Real) Story 143 A Metafictional Stretch 157 Metafictionality in Slaughterhouse-Five 163

Frame and Frame-breaking 168 Authorship 177 Intertextuality 186

Metahistory 194 Conclusion 200

VI. CREATED NARRATIVES IN BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS 203

The Story of a (Real) Writer 203 A Metafictional Culmination 209 Metafictionality in Breakfast of Champions 218

Authorship 220 Parody 227

Metacultures 238 Conclusion 242

VII. CONCLUSION 245

A Metafictional Trilogy 245 A Daring Quest 249 Ideas Matter 253

WORKS CITED 257

BIODATA OF STUDENT 264

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 266